Ukraine must compensate Germany for blowing up Nord Stream – AfD co-leader
Ukraine must compensate Germany for blowing up Nord Stream – AfD co-leader
Alice Weidel has also opposed the idea of giving Kiev associate membership in the EU and called for the resumption of dialogue with Russia
Ukraine should compensate Germany for the 2022 sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipelines, the co-leader of the right-wing party Alternative for Germany (AfD), Alice Weidel, has said. German investigators have attributed the explosions, which crippled the pipelines built to transport Russian gas to Germany, to a small group of Ukrainian operatives. The alleged ringleader was extradited to Germany from Italy last autumn. Moscow has repeatedly questioned Berlin’s account of the attack, arguing that such a sophisticated operation could not have been carried out by a handful of divers in NATO-monitored waters without state backing.
By Russia Today
AfD party co-leader Alice Weidel speaks at a press conference in Berlin, Germany, June 9, 2026. © Legion-Media / Bernd Elmenthaler
Speaking at a party event on Tuesday, Weidel rejected German Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s proposal to grant Ukraine associate membership in the European Union, describing the country as a “bottomless pit” that is already heavily reliant on foreign financial assistance. Germany has already transferred more than €100 billion to Ukraine over the past four years alone,” she said. Weidel argued that Kiev should first explain its role in the Nord Stream sabotage. “We need to know how this state-terrorist act against the most important infrastructure we had, namely the Nord Stream pipelines, came about and what role Ukraine played in it,” she said.
“The flow of payments should actually be moving in the opposite direction.
Ukraine must pay reparations to the Federal Republic of Germany, because we have suffered enormous damage – and so has Europe as a whole – from the loss of cheap Russian fossil fuels,” Weidel added. The co-leader of the AfD also called for an immediate halt to German military and financial assistance to Ukraine, urging Berlin to focus instead on facilitating negotiations between Kiev and Moscow and restoring dialogue with Russia.
According to several recent opinion polls, the AfD is currently Germany’s most popular political party. An INSA survey published by Bild on Saturday put support for the party at 29%, while 77% of respondents said they were dissatisfied with Chancellor Merz’s performance – the worst rating of his tenure, according to the newspaper.
‘Energy tsunami’ to hit Europe by Putin envoy Kirill Dmitriev
The prediction by Kirill Dmitriev comes as Middle East turmoil causes energy shortages
Europe is facing an “energy crisis tsunami” following a series of political earthquakes, Kremlin envoy Kirill Dmitriev has warned. The forecast comes as energy shocks caused by the US‑Israeli war on Iran continue to destabilize supplies across the region.
Since the beginning of the US‑Israeli military campaign in late February, global crude benchmarks have surged by roughly 50%, forcing retail fuel and wholesale natural gas prices to historic highs. The Middle East conflict has further exacerbated a critical situation in European states, which had already drastically cut Russian energy imports since the 2022 escalation of the Ukraine conflict.
“More to come as the energy crisis tsunami hits the EU/UK imminently,” Dmitriev stated on X, responding to a Swedish journalist who noted that Germany’s right-wing AfD party was nearly as large as the CDU and SPD combined in the latest poll, calling the shift “a political earthquake.” Traditional mainstream parties across Europe have increasingly lost ground to far-right or center-right coalitions over the past years.
The Iran-related energy shock has pushed the UK to issue a temporary license for Russian-origin diesel and jet fuel imports to stabilize markets shaken by disruptions to navigation through the Strait of Hormuz. The route handles around 20% of global oil and LNG. The decision, announced on Wednesday, mirrored a similar move by the US earlier this week extending a sanctions waiver for limited Russian seaborne oil purchases.
Several officials across the EU have called for restoring energy ties with Russia to tackle the crisis. However, the European Commission has stated that there will be no return to Russian energy imports and it will continue to pursue a full phase-out of Russian fossil fuels by 2027. Earlier this year, Dmitriev said that the EU would “inevitably beg” for Russian gas, as energy prices are projected to further increase. He has also stated that the bloc is the last in line among Russian energy consumers as Moscow expands projects with other countries.